A key finding of the 2025 World Happiness Report showed that, when society is more benevolent, the people who benefit most are those who are least happy.

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This statement presents a specific finding from the 2025 World Happiness Report and invites evaluation against typical interpretations of benevolence and happiness.
Option 1: True. If the report indeed claimed that when society is more benevolent, the people who benefit most are those who are least happy, then this option would align with a scenario where social safety nets, kindness, and collective support disproportionately improve outcomes for the most unhappy individuals. Considerations here include how benevolence is defined (policies, cultural norms, charitable actions) and which metrics are used (life satisfaction, mental health indicators, access to basic needs). A true assessment would need to show that the marginal beneficiaries of benevolent actions are the least happy, rather than the moderately happy or most happy, and would specify the mechanism (e.g., reduction of deprivation, social inclusion) by which this occurs.
Option 2: False. If the report’s main finding instead emphasizes broad increases in well-being across a wide portion of the population or highlights other groups receiving the largest gains (such as those in middle happiness levels or in higher-income brackets), then the claim about only the least happy benefiting would be incorrect. In other words, a false interpretation would arise if benevolence yields multi-directional effects or if the most substantial gains occur among different subgroups. Additionally, dynamics like baseline happiness, risk of ceiling effects, or measurement limitations could lead to different conclusions than the statement asserts.
Option 3: It depends on definitions. The truth value hinges on how one defines “benevolent society,” which actors are counted as benefiting, and which happiness or well-being indicators are used. If benevolence is interpreted narrowly (e.g., charitable giving) versus broadly (e.g., inclusive policies, universal basic services), the observed beneficiaries could differ. Therefore, the statement’s truth is not automatic and requires clarification of scope and metrics used in the report.
Option 4: Context matters. Even if some analyses show pronounced gains for the least happy groups, other analyses might reveal that benefits are uneven or that additional factors (economic stability, health care access, social cohesion) influence who benefits most. Thus, dissecting the exact methodology and population segments described in the report is essential to evaluate the claim accurately. This means the statement could be true under certain conditions and false under others, depending on the specific evidence the report presents.

PSYC_V 208 991 2025W1 Quiz 5 - A global happiness report

A key finding of the 2025 World Happiness Report showed that, when society is more benevolent, the people who benefit most are those who are least happy.

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